Lewis "Lew" Wallace (1827-1905) was born on April 10, 1827 in Brookville, Indiana to a prominent family. His father, David Wallace, was a West Point graduate, U.S. Congressman, and 6th governor of Indiana. Wallace was well-educated for the time, and showed a proficiency for writing. He went on to publish the influential novel Ben Hur…
Tag: illustration
Illustration of Joseph E. Johnston
Joseph Eggleston Johnston (1807-1891) grew up in Abingdon, Virginia, son of Judge Peter Johnston, Jr. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1929, in the same class as Robert E. Lee. He left the Army for a brief period, then re-joined as a first lieutenant and served with distinction in the…
Illustration of Irvin McDowell
Irvin McDowell (1818-1885) was a Regular Army officer from Ohio who is best known for commanding the Union army at the First Battle of Bull Run/Manassas. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1838, alongside his future opponent in that battle, Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard. He fought in the Mexican-American War, and…
Illustration of Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee (1807–1870) was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia to Revolutionary War officer and Virginia governor Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee III. Robert E. Lee chose a military career and graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1829. He was an engineer by training, and fought in the Mexican-American War.…
Illustration of Benjamin F. Butler
Benjamin Franklin Butler (1818–1893) played a crucial but controversial role in the early Civil War. He was a lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. Despite having no military experience, he secured a rank as brigadier general of Massachusetts volunteers and was sent south the secure the railroads to Washington, DC. In Baltimore, Maryland, Butler suppressed a…
Illustration of Theophilus H. Holmes
Theophilus Hunter Holmes (1804-1880) was born in North Carolina and served as governor of that state from 1821 to 1824. He graduated from West Point in 1829 in the same class as Robert E. Lee, then served as an officer in the Mexican War. He resigned his commission in the U.S. Army during the Siege…
Illustration of Milledge Luke Bonham
Brig. Gen. Milledge Luke Bonham (1813-1890) was a South Carolinian by birth and came from a military family. He fought in the Seminole War and as an officer in the Mexican War, then commanded the South Carolina Militia as a major general. He was a U.S. Congressman from 1857 to 1860 and governor of South…
Illustration of Robert Patterson
On paper, Irish-born Maj. Gen. Robert Patterson (1792-1881) was the perfect person to lead the Department of Pennsylvania in 1861. He served in the Pennsylvania militia during the War of 1812, led troops to suppress two separate riots in Philadelphia, and fought in the Mexican War as a high-ranking officer. He owned several cotton mills,…
Illustration of John B. Magruder
With his upturned mustache, large mutton chops, and plumed hat, “Prince John” Bankhead Magruder (1807-1871) cut a dashing figure. He was a veteran of the Mexican War and amateur actor with unconventional views on warfare for the time period. On April 21, 1861, four days after the Virginia Secession Convention formally adopted articles of secession,…
Illustration of Thomas J. Jackson
Thomas Jonathan Jackson (1824-1863) was born in what is today Clarksburg, West Virginia and graduated from West Point in 1846. He fought in the Mexican War, then taught at the Virginia Military Institute from 1851 to 1861. He was a devout Presbyterian and owned six slaves, mostly acquired through marriage. He established a Sunday school…
Spirit of '61 